Call To Arms
by inkedhymnal
Summary: It has been four years since the Maria indicident, and a fragile peace is suddenly shattered by terrorist attacks. Once more the five pilots are called to aid the Earth and Colonies, but is their strength enough this time?
1. Prologue: The Count

Hello. This is my new Gundam Wing Fanction, and I hope you all enjoy it. For the record I do not own Gundam Wing (but I do own the Collector's Edition DVD Anime Legends Edition of the series from Christmas! WHOO!).

Title: Call to Arms

Summary: It has been four years since the Gundams were destroyed after the Maria Khushrenada incident. The pilots and all those affected by the war have gone their separate ways to pursue their lives as they wish. However, peace is a fragile thing, and there are those who do not wish it to last. From the ashes of previous wars rises a new power, a group of terrorists who believe that Mankind is encroaching on God's territory, and will do anything to bring them down. Once again the five young pilots are called into service to defend the colonies and Earth from this newest threat. But will their strength be enough, or will they fall beneath the onslaught of terrorists who fight in the name of God?

* * *

**Prologue: The Count**

"_Do you really think that all of this is necessary?" _

"_Why wouldn't it be?"_

"_Well, aren't the colonies and Earth at peace? I will say that the actions taken by Maria Khushrenada were a surprise, but they were hardly that girl's fault, and she wasn't acting on behalf of the Earth Alliance or the colonies. She was acting as a separate entity all together, or at least the kind of entity she was told to be. However, that doesn't change the fact that the Earth Alliance and the Colonies are now at peace. They even worked together to stop Miss Khushrenada!" _

"_Even now you still are so polite. 'Miss' is it? Heh. Well, that is true, but you and I both know that peace is not forever."_

"_But I still don't think it's necessary to build Them once more."_

"And what will you do when that peace is shattered and we have nothing to defend ourselves with? Surely you do not harbor the illusion that the Earth Alliance has demilitarized? Or that the colonies have done the same?"

"…_No, of course not."_

"_Then my point is proven. No need to worry though. You think I would actually destroy such a peace? Did you forget it was what we sent those boys to Earth for in the first place? No, this is just a precaution. Never fear, I'll leave Heero Yuy alone. Until next we meet, Ms. Peacecraft." _

A 'ping' sounded as the recording was cut off abruptly. A silence descended through the small room, broken by the quiet chuckles of its single occupant. A chair squeaked as it rotated and the floor groaned as it supported the weight of its one occupant as they headed for one of the room's four windows.

"Even after living through all of that, she still manages to believe in such things?" the man chuckled.

There was no one around to answer his question, but the man reflected that that might be for the better. He doubted that anyone wanted to listen to the ramblings of a traitor anyways, not to mention the man who nearly destroyed earth in A.C. 195.

Bemused, the man caught his reflection in the panes of the window he stood before. It struck him as odd how little had changed in the five years since that dreadful war, and the four since the Maria Khushrenada incident. Well, he supposed it wasn't that surprising. He finished his growth spurts long before the Earth Sphere Alliance and Colony wars (what were they calling that now? The OZ Wars?), and to be quite honest he was in what most people would consider his prime at twenty-four years old. He did admit he wished for a decent haircut, his creamy, platinum blonde hair having grown much longer in his self-imposed exile – down to his thighs, in fact. He kept it held back in a neat tail with a red silk ribbon and kept it trimmed as best he could, but he was no barber and he was nowhere near anywhere civilized enough to have one. He could at least manage his bangs, which he let barely scrape the bottom of his jaw. His face was still handsomely angular, with no obvious imperfections, and his eyes were still their usual bright and piercing blue selves.

"I wonder if the world even remembers the face of Zechs Marquis," the man mused, looking out over the tangled jungle wilderness he chose to hide himself in.

He had spent the last three years hidden in this remote location, unbeknownst to even Noin. He sometimes felt pangs of guilt over leaving her behind, but he did not feel right dragging her into his self-imposed exile. It had taken a year after the Maria War for him to actually come to the decision to withdraw from humanity. It wasn't because he detested humanity, more rather it was because he detested himself. Everywhere he looked he saw only the goodness humanity had managed to win for itself, the calm times of peace and prosperity. What world needed one such as him? A man who would have gladly destroyed all there was on Earth to bring such peace? He felt dirty and unworthy, even in the presence of Noin, who had followed him wherever he went.

Unable to come to terms with his feelings of vileness, he decided to return to Earth and there hide and somehow seek atonement. He was under no illusions that simply hiding himself from the world would bring that desired salvation, but neither did he think that his presence in the world would bring it either. So now here he was, three years later, hiding out in his little bungalow in the a lush jungle of a Pacific Coast island, leaving only to attain what supplies he could not gather for himself from the island's bounty. Still he had no answer to his dilemma.

"_Incoming message. I.D. Code: 190087. Dr. J."_

Zechs blinked in puzzlement at his phone, not quite sure he had heard right. Dr. J? But why? More than that, how had they even found the line? The line was certainly not listed and he hardly ever used it except to place orders he could go pick up from another island about four hours away every month or so. Even then the shop he called agreed to strict confidentiality with him and did not record either their conversations or any phone records of his calls at all.

"_Accept?"_

Zechs walked over and sat down in his chair again, pressing the talk button before he could change his mind. The video screen sprang to life, and on it was displayed the image of Dr. J. He looked strange as ever, his hairline receding, the color of silver and down to his shoulders. He still wore those strange glasses that remained on his face without the aid of straps or any other device, and as per his usual he was clacking his artificial hand as if were supposed to be some sort of doorbell.

"Well, well. Zechs Marquis. How are you doing?" he asked with a rough laugh.

"I'm surprise you found me," Zechs replied calmly. "I thought I had taken every precaution to make sure I wasn't found out here."

Dr. J. laughed, "Even the best laid plans can go awry, young Count."

Zechs did not particularly like the reference to his OZ days, but there was no need to begin a battle of words here over something Dr. J. would probably not acknowledge. "I assume you have a reason for contacting me?"

Dr. J's face fell into a more series demeanor, "Yes, I am afraid so."

"The new mobile suits you created – you need to use them," Zechs guessed.

"Yes, yes I am afraid so," Dr. J said quietly, not even questioning how Zechs knew of the suits.

"Then why are you calling me? I am no longer a soldier. What's more, shouldn't Heero and the other Gundam pilots be inside the new weapons?" Zechs asked practically.

Dr. J regarded him for several long minutes. Finally, he shook his head. "I'm afraid those five alone will not be enough this time. We built a sixth weapon, one designed just for you Zechs Marquis."

A cold lump dropped into his stomach. A sixth weapon? Just for him? But why? Was the situation that serious? Furthermore, what _was_ the situation? "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask the same questions as Relena. Why even build them? Is there not peace?"

"Pease is fragile, and all to quickly it can be broken," Dr. J said mournfully. "More than that, there are those people who willfully shatter it. You probably haven't gotten word all the way out where you are, and I'm sure the Earth Alliance is keeping it under wraps from the public, but there have been a number of terrorists attacks on Earth Alliance bases."

"Terrorist attacks?" Zechs repeated, his shock abating and the calm calculations of a soldier coming to the fore.

"Yes. They only attacked about three bases, but from the level of destruction, they are operating on levels that exceed that of the previous Gundams. We're just lucky that they attacked rather remote bases, away from the populace, which has allowed the matter to be kept quite. However, I feel that this was merely a warning shot. Soon they'll make their main move and the world will be thrown into chaos once more. On top of that, I'm positive that some of the warmongers still left within the Earth Alliance will gladly back them. This could potentially escalate and throw the world into war once more," Dr. J summarized.

Zechs nodded as he took it all in. Still, how was all this possible? And to exceed the power of the Gundams? He thought only the Doctors knew how to create the Gundams and none of them would be foolish enough to threaten a peace so hard won. "So, what is it you would want me to do exactly? Eliminate them before they get the chance to make that move?"

"Precisely," Dr. J clacked his artificial hand in approval.

Of course, now came the obvious question, "Why me?"

Dr. J smiled, "Because, Zechs, this is the way to your atonement."

* * *

Please review! Thanks!

- BM -


	2. Mission 01: Contemplate

**Mission 01: Contemplate**

The warning scream of an alarm clock carried through the tiny apartment like a bell of Notredam. Except, of course, it did not posses a sound nearly as soothing. Yet the apartment's denizen cut its wild shrieks short as always. Heaven forbid the wretched contraption be allowed to wail any longer than thirty seconds on any given morning.

If one could ignore the terrible shrieks of the alarm clock, then one might be able to appreciate the soft light filtering into the apartment through the large window situated in the bedroom. It was fresh and new as only sunlight from the dawn could be (even if it was artificial), full of promises and delightfully cheerful. Even the scenery seemed to respond, showing off a large city that glowed metallic orange and blinding white as the sun rose (or at least as its simulation rose). Its streets were crowded with people going about their lives, mostly students within the section the apartment was situated, but there were some teachers and businessmen. Off to the right there was the faint outline of a park and the sparkle of a manufactured river could be seen running through its center.

Yet all of this was lost on Heero Yuy.

With military precision Heero slid out of his bed and headed for the bathroom in a routine that had become all to familiar. Every day he woke up at exactly 7 A.M., showered, dressed, made his bed, had breakfast, and headed out to do whatever was on his list for the day. Truthfully, it didn't change much. Nothing had since the OZ Wars and the Maria Khushrenada incident. He didn't even have a Gundam to upgrade like 'some sports car' as Dou had once described Heero's hobby. Relena was now safely enthroned as the peace loving go-between of the colonies and Earth, and had reigned as such for the past four years or so.

Heero had kept a careful watch over Relena for about six months after the Maria Khushrenada incident, aware that tensions were still severely taught thanks to that little girl. However, nothing serious had happened that Relena could not handle or her staff, and Heero made the decision to quietly withdraw from her life. He was well aware of Relena's feelings for him, but he knew that nothing good could come him being around her anymore in this time of peace. He was a trained soldier and would always be a trained soldier, even in times such as these.

That probably explained why he was able to attend one of the colonies' best private engineering colleges. He still retained his hacking skills and it was, quite frankly, one of the easiest things in the world for him to hack into the college's files and make sure that all of his expenses were paid for. And if the college found that even the least bit suspicious they looked over it for his excellent records that made the college look even better. As it was, Heero could out-teach his engineering teachers if he really tried, but he decided to keep a lower profile and settled for simply acing his classes. Well, maybe that wasn't a low profile, but it was low enough for Heero.

But today the college was closed, and that left Heero without a real course of action. Well, it wasn't like it mattered at the moment. At least his morning had an actual routine. He finished his shower and dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a loose green turtleneck. It was wintertime in the colonies now. He still wasn't sure why the colonies had decided they would go through season cycles, but he supposed it had something to do with a feeling of Eartiness, except he thought that was what they had built the colonies for in the first place. Well, he had not built the colonies, he just lived on them. Fully dressed he headed out to his kitchen, taking a glance at the calendar on his fridge. He paused, tapping the little box that noted the date as March 21, A.C. 200.

Today he turned twenty.

His lips twitched upward in a smile as he recalled the conversation nearly five years ago that had even begun to make him believe that March 21 was his birthday. He had been with Duo back on Earth, during one of the times their missions had coincided and therefore forced them to work together. He recalled he had been working on repairs to Wing and Duo had made some inane comment about a birthday. He had not really paid attention at first, but since Duo was Duo he persisted in the conversation, and eventually got Heero to admit that he did not know what his real birthday was. This had led the cheerful pilot to declare such a thing unforgivable, and that night had somehow put together a miniature party (even though it was just himself and Duo) and declared that March 21 was now Heero's birthday. Duo had even gotten him a present, or at least made him one. Duo had proven quite good with making things out junk and presented Heero with a keychain of all things, made out of scrap to look like a silhouette of the Wing. In the back of his mind, Heero found himself somewhat disappointed he had not taken better care of the thing, as he no longer had it.

His eyes slid from the little date box and to a picture that was held to the fridge by a magnet. In a gesture Heero would never let anyone see, he reached out and stroked the picture, his face softening into a real smile. The photo was one of all five Gundam Pilots (which Qautre had demanded at the conclusion of the OZ Wars). Trowa and Wufie were at the fringes; Wufie stoutly refusing to look at the camera (the action producing a very nice profile of the Chinese boy) and Trowa letting the tiniest of smiles creep onto his face. Qautre stood before Trowa, all smiles and golden hair. Then there was Dou and himself. Dou had his arm slung across Heero's shoulders, as cheerful as Qautre, and Heero stared stoically at the camera as he always had.

Strange, how little he had changed since those days. In fact, the face that had greeted him in the mirror this morning after his shower was the exact same as the one in the photo. He still possessed the crafted face with its slim nose and lips, and he kept his hair cut the same way since he had begun his training to become a Gundam pilot – the precisely cut chocolate hair with roguish spikes across his forehead and slightly down into his eyes. He had even begun to see why Relena and even Duo had called his eyes 'ocean blue'. He was taller now though – no longer a tiny five-one, but a surprising five-ten. He wasn't a giant by any standards, but at least now he didn't give people the scare of their lives when he displayed feats of strength that he should clearly not be capable of with so slight a frame.

Sighing, he turned away from the picture and grabbed his matching jean jacket and headed out, still not quite sure what he was supposed to be doing.

* * *

"Did you hear? Relena Peacecraft is calling the first Union Conference!"

Heero glanced out of the corner of his eye at the men huddled around a laptop, unobtrusively continuing to sip at his coffee and keep a newscast up before him on his own laptop. Quickly he opened a browser and found the latest story on the ECN, which just happened to be about what the men were speaking of.

_Ambassador Relena Peacecraft will be hosting the first ever Union Conference between Earth Alliance Officers and Colony Representatives in the hopes that this will initiate an annual meeting where the two can work out their differences through dialogue instead of returning to arms._

_Ambassador Peacecraft, who resides within the resurrected Sank Kingdom, will be opening her halls to over seventy Officers and Representatives and will be conducting the Conference over the course of six days…_

Well, Relena was certainly making progress. Heero kept up on all matters concerning the colonies and the Earth Alliance, especially those concerning Relena. He was pleased to see that she was finally making the much larger motions needed to truly keep the peace. Oh the colonies and the Earth Alliance had been at peace for the past four years, of course, but that did not mean the peace was stable. Heero could practically see the fluctuations in the feelings of the Alliance Officers and the Representatives on the colonies. It would seem that Relena had caught onto these feelings and was going to try and keep them under control. Well, good for her.

Of course, it wasn't like Heero could actually have done anything if something had happened.

The thought made him pause in one of those ridiculous poses where one has the coffee halfway to their lips but simply can't bring it the rest of the way.

_He couldn't do anything._

Carefully he put the coffee down before he spilled it all over the place. He stared down at the news report that was still streaming across his laptop, his hand poised over the mouse. Was he really so helpless? He knew how to infiltrate military bases, how to set explosives to go off for anything (time, pressure, movement, etc.), could hack any computer without exemption, and was a former Gundam pilot which made him capable of piloting almost any mobile suit in existence – even the newest secret suits created by the Alliance (the Virgos) and the colonies' newest suits they were calling mobile armors with the codename Gemini.

All that aside, if Relena was attacked in the Sank Kingdom during the Conference what could he possibly do? Even if he was there, what could he possibly do? There was always the possibility that he could steal a mobile suit, but even with his superior piloting abilities he would be severely limited by whatever suit he got into as it had no where near the capabilities of a Gundam, nor would said suit be designed for single combat against what would need to be a large number of terrorists to have such a plan go off. He also couldn't slip in as part of her security staff since she would surely recognize him and blow his cover.

He clenched his hand into a fist. Was he really so powerless without a Gundam? He couldn't be. He just couldn't be! Or maybe it wasn't the fact he was powerless that was making him feel so insecure. Perhaps it was the fact, yes the _fact_, that he no longer had a Gundam at his disposal. When he bothered with introspection as he was now, he knew deep down inside that he felt … exposed without a Gundam at his beck and call. He no longer felt secure. But damn it all, didn't that make him a pathetic soldier? Was he one of those soldiers who relied solely on their machine to accomplish a task?

No! No he wasn't, and Dr. J would have skinned him alive for even contemplating such an idea. Still, he could not ignore the fact that being without the Gundam made him uneasy. They had barely avoided disaster with the Gundams during the Maria Khushrenada incident. If a terrorist group, or even the Earth Alliance or the Colonies, figured out that the Gundams were no more could that possibly be enough of a morale booster to start another a war? And what then? What could Heero do? He could enlist with the army, but that also brought up the problem of suits once more. Looking at it from a tactical point of view, he couldn't make much of a difference with a mundane suit in the regular army, and if he tried to act on his own (even if it benefited his chosen side as a whole) he would be instantly court marshaled and probably executed. No, the army was not an option.

So where did that leave him, exactly?

He sighed, snapping his laptop closed and slipping it within its carrying case. There was no point in worrying about. Besides, Relena was not the stupid, naïve girl she once was. She would know the potential hazards, and if she did not then her security forces would, and if they did not then the Alliance Officers and Colony Reps certainly would. She would be well protected and perfectly able to handle what was to come. If he kept intervening on her behalf, acting as a shadowy protector, then how could she grow? How could she grow into the type of woman that would be needed to keep the peace for the next few decades? How could she grow into a person that could hope to guide the next Peacecraft, should there ever be one?

These were things not meant for him to contemplate. He was no longer a soldier, no longer required to fight to defend people who could not defend themselves. He gave that up four years ago when he agreed to send his Gundam into the sun along with the others. He had to stop thinking like a soldier, like a killer. He was now simply Heero Yuy, a twenty-year old college student who would graduate next year with top marks in bio-mechanic engineering as well as A.I. computer manufacturing engineering. He would get a job somewhere and he would live out his life as a normal person would. He had to. It was all he had left now.

He figured that since he had little else to do with his time today he might as well finish the report on bio-mass drive engineering that was due in his class on Wednesday. He could easily write a full one hundred page thesis on the subject and baffle his professors, and actually had at once point. After that his professors had assigned him a twenty-page limit on all his papers. It was all well and good to Heero - it just gave him a way to kill time in his new life. Of course he already knew half the things they taught, but the professors would never accept such an explanation, and thus he headed to the library to find materials he could present them with.

He nodded to the aging librarian, who gave him a friendly nod in return. He came to the place often, both for papers and to kill time like he was today. The librarian knew him by sight if not by name, and Heero just couldn't bring himself to shake habits and attach himself to the librarian by learning theirs. It was enough to exchange the silent pleasantries.

Perhaps that was for the best as well. It wouldn't do for the librarian to be to aware of what Heero did, since every time he came to the library he always hacked the system and accessed protected files. Why a library had such files in the first place Heero was never sure, and the files weren't even that threatening towards anyone unless you planned to somehow convert theory into reality. Nonetheless it served Heero's purposes, and kept his hacking skills somewhat refined.

"What's happening?"

Heero jerked his head up from his screen as the scream passed through the library, just barely ahead of the shock wave that knocked him from his chair. Books and shelves fell to the ground, lights flickered on and off as they attempted to find a power source, computers sparked as they were torn from their mounts, and people screamed as they were slammed against walls and debris fell on them.

Heero quickly curled into a ball to shield the more important parts of his body from damage, but the part of the library he had been in hadn't taken a large part of the shock wave. Still, he got crushed into the wall pretty good. A normal person would have been knocked out, but Heero had endured far more than this in his training days to be Wing Gundam's pilot. Carefully checking to make sure nothing to important was broken, he managed to heave himself to his feet and work his way towards the doors.

It took some effort to the force them open, locked as they were and clotted with books and stone. Already the library was resounding with the cries of the wounded, and Heero could smell blood which suggested both serious injury and possibly death. He grunted as he finally got the doors open and stumbled outside, the sounds of sirens and the colony's attack alarm system instantly assaulting him.

Gathering his wits he darted to the opposite side of the street from the library, which seemed to have suffered just as much damage. Whatever had been attacked was not in the immediate area, of that Heero was sure or there would have been a lot more damage, but it was close by if the shock wave caused this much devastation. He ran up a fallen lamppost to where it had come to lay against the gate surrounding the college's private park, scanning the horizon for the attacked area.

It wasn't hard to find.

Heero could only stare as he watched his college collapse as support pillars and beams melted and bent within the inferno that was engulfing it. Fires had started from shrapnel and were quickly spreading through the rest of the college's grounds and if not stopped would consume the entirety of the district. Heero gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, his awareness of how powerless he was right now all the more bitter as he watched the place he had called home for the past three and a half years being consumed. Why didn't he catch this sooner? For the love of God, how did they get enough explosives onto the colonies to even create this much damage? He thought he had that sort of thing being watched by his own person monitors – so how did he miss it? How could he let his happen?

"Damn it," he hissed, watching as emergency crews tried desperately to stop the spreading blaze.

A buzzing started in his pants pocket, startling Heero out of his spiraling anger. He was in no mood to deal with a phone call at the moment, but if someone was calling him it had to be important. The phone that was buzzing was his special line that he had let only the Doctors, Relena, and the other Gundam Pilots know about.

He flipped it open and pressed it to his ear.

"I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time, Heero."

Here it was – his chance to have power again, "Not all, Dr. J."

* * *

Cliff hangers, just for all you! Review please:D

- BM -


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